#sinclair smith

True, she felt a little tired, but she hoped coffee would take care of that. Katie decided to drive to school.

(pg. 124)

Nice job dumbass, drive around when Heath can make you sleep. This has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve read in this book yet.  

It was daylight, now, and Katie knew there was no way she’d be able to drive to work in her present condition. Just the thought conjured up all sorts of terrifying visions-the sight of herself asleep at the wheel, running the car into a ditch, or getting into an accident and killing someone.

(pg. 127)

SO NOW YOU THINK ABOUT ACCIDENTS?! 

(Side note: Alice in Wonderland is a nice thing to include for this story... you know... I shouldn’t have to explain the connection.)

Ch. 25

We begin the chapter with Katie snapping at Raquelle. This results from a lack of sleep. We will see later that Heath expected such things to happen. He does know what he is doing. 

We are given the explanation that Jason is at home sick. A bit convenient. I would have liked to see him interact with Katie, given the situation and all. I wish the author had done this or given a better reason for him being gone. Hey, maybe the author does have something planned, who knows? 

“You look a little peaked, Katie. I want good work but there’s no need to push yourself too hard. I don’t want you to make yourself sick.” 

(pg. 130)

This bitch. This comes from the teacher who accused her of being on drugs. All I hear is, “I definitely care about your well-being! I love all my students.” I don’t know if its possible to roll your eyes harder than I did. 

Well, Katie continued to drink coffee in an effort to stay awake. This continues to make her snappy at everyone around her. It’s hard for her to control her shaky hands, so she drops the coffee and makes a mess. Raquelle is there to help her, despite their rocky start that morning. I don’t care for the characters in this book, but I can get used to Raquelle. 

“Hey, Katie,” Raquelle smiled as she turned away, “you talk to me like that again, and you’ve had it.” 

(pg. 132)

Queen shit. Not to out due Raquelle, but the chapter ends with Heath forcing another dream onto Katie. ugh

Ch. 26

“Well, gee, I was beginning to think we weren’t pals anymore.” 

“Come around more often. Don’t make yourself a stranger.” 

(pgs. 134 and 135)

Gotta say, Heath is a terrible person/dream/demon. I gotta admit, I like reading his dialogue. It makes things interesting. It’s the type of dull joy you feel for something you really don’t want to like. You cocky little...

The chapter ends -pretty quickly, the chapter is about three pages- with Heath actually giving Katie advice. He tells her to learn more about dreams. I wonder why he does this, maybe he believes he has already won? I wouldn’t give advice to my ‘enemy.’ 

WEEE WOOO WEEE WOOO!

Another Coraline comparison

Ch. 27 

But no one with suspicious eyes greeted her. The house was quiet. In the kitchen she found a note tacked on the refrigerator door with a candy-cane magnet.

(pg. 138)

So, she wakes up to an empty home and there is a letter explaining where they went? Sounds veeerrryyy familiar. 

At the end of the chapter, Katie reads about dreams in a library. She learns something that puts some of her fear to rest: you cannot sleepwalk while dreaming. Katie was worried that Heath would have her hurt her family. The fear of herself doing this is gone, but she must still be careful as Heath can influence the ‘normal’ world. 

Ch. 28

Oh, excuse me. Sure,” Raquelle said in an exaggerated tone. “Especially if you might, just possibly, maybe, could be, at some point in your lifetime, finish those chips before they molded over or turned into rocks.” 

(pg. 144)

Relatable. That’s it. Just relatable. :) 

Ch. 30

“Better tell Jason to stay away from my special girl,” he cooed gently, the way an adult would whisper to a crying child. “Otherwise, if he’s not careful-something bad might happen to him.” 

(pg. 155)

AHHHHHHH! I love this little paragraph/dialogue thing. The comparison to how an adult speaks to a kid is perfect. Heath doesn’t see Katie as a threat-to be honest I see why he wouldn’t. He even gave Katie information that would benefit her. 

12. 

“Come down here, Katie! I won’t stand for you sleeping all day long!” Katie felt her father’s voice slice into her sleep.

Her father and mother find Katie’s sleeping ridiculous. They have every right to think so: Katie often comes home and goes right to bed. As this was still relatively new for her, they likely were frustrated and thought she was slacking off. They do not share any concerns yet. I understand why they would not suspect anything. I mean, I sleep all the time as well, so a person being lazy is more believable than a person sleeping to meet a love interest. 

(pg. 67)

“It had been wonderful being with Heath - at first. But now I’m not so sure I want to be Heath’s special girl, Katie thought to herself. I don’t think I want to be with him all the time. 

I didn’t expect her to feel this way so early on. This is a short book with short chapters, so this may be the reason. Also, Katie may feel this way because she has only seen Heath while sleeping. Maybe she still thought -besides the hot shower incident- that Heath was only strong and influential when she slept? We also see that Katie is not liking the idea of being in a relationship with Heath. This has opened the door to other relationships. 

(pg. 68)

Heath, if you’re there, don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her.

Katie thought this when she witnessed her dog having a bad nightmare. The dog first looked as if it were running, then turned like it was trying to protect itself. No matter what, Bopper -the dog- would not wake up. Katie made this plea to Heath. To me, this echoed what some abusive relationships are like. They threaten to hurt or actually hurt those around you. You want to leave? Ok, but I’m going to terrorize your dog. This is what I imagine Heath was thinking. This is also a warning of what Heath could do if Katie were to leave. My final thought: Scaring Bopper crossed the line. No one scares a dog. 

(pg. 69)

13. A little backstory before I begin, Jason is the name of the cute boy Katie talked to on the first day of school. She had made the comment about the school smelling nice? Something like that, anyway, Katie does like Jason in addition to Heath. 

“I’ve just been composing a poem for you. It’s a sort of love letter.... Ready?” He asked with a grin. 

SKIPPING A FEW LINES TO THE POEM

A rose is beautiful. 

So are diamonds and pearls.

Katie Shaw

Would you be my girl?

I found this so cute! Besides Heath, things are starting to go really well for Katie. I mean, she liked this boy, and then he asked her on a date, and asked if they wanted to start dating. I was expecting Katie to be attracted to Heath as he was the only person who had shown her attention, but this isn’t the case anymore. I wish a person would write me a poem.    :’)

(pgs. 73-74)